High Noon

[Tommy Tainant]

John Wayne got the movie 'Rio Lobo' made as a counter to 'High Noon'... a brave sheriff, with the support of the townspeople, in a stand off against thugs trying to free his murderous prisoner.

Dean Martin's character is redeemed in the end by taking a brave stand.

That was Rio Bravo. Rio Lobo was the one where he goes chasing a reb spy after the war.

 

[Flopper]

I think the movie was overrated as a Great Western
Most characters were pretty cartoonish

Gary Cooper just played Gary Cooper

Gary Cooper was not the greatest of actors ditto John Wayne.

Both had great appeal to movie goers due to their screen persona as did Jimmy Stewart, James Dean, and Brando. This doesn't have much do with acting ability but rather the ability to present a consistent persona that most movie goers like. As much as I like Stewart, I don't consider him a great actor. In all his movies, he plays Jimmy Stewart. Instead of Stewart becoming his charter, the character becomes Stewart. Much the same thing can be said about John Wayne. He made over 75 movies and played John Wayne in almost everyone of them.

To me a great actor is a performer who can take on a wide variety of roles and create unique character in each of role. For example, Dustin Hoffman, in Rain Main, The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy, Tootsie, Little Big Man and Kramer vs Kramer. He brings his charters to life with their own unique personalities. So when you watch these movie you see Dorothy Michaels, "Ratso" Rizzo, Benjamin Braddock, or Raymond not Dustin Hoffman, an actor know for his irascible behavior on the set, indecisive, a perfectionist that is never satisfied with anything, and a supporter of radical causes.

 

[Picaro]

High Noon didn't represent the reality of the 'Old West'; I would agree with Wayne that it was 'un-American' in the sense that it didn't represent the typical western town and the values that prevailed in an essentially lawless era, and I generally hate Wayne's ridiculously bad movies. People stuck together much more than they would in a typical 'settled' eastern city. It was a matter of necessity; small tax base, one sheriff for an entire county, which could be a huge area in western territories. Vigilante posses were the norm, and despite all the bad press they get in modern times were very effective and few they hung were innocent victims.

A much more accurate movie scene of the American West would be from the movie Dillinger actually, when the character played by Harry Dean Stanton runs out of gas in the little town and gets shot to death by the locals. Never look to Hollywood for an accurate historical portrayal of life in the West. One should also note that the majority of westerners in some periods and regions were not even native to the U.S., but were immigrants from South America, Australia, and Europe, especially during the gold rushes, so at least half of any citizens in any western supposed to have taken place after 1840 should have a foreign accent, and sound much more like Tommy than Gary Cooper, especially the violent outlaws.

I still like the movie, and Gary Cooper's portrayals in general, but I can do that without having to take the movie content itself as real history or any sort of link to reality.

 

[rightwinger]

High Noon didn't represent the reality of the 'Old West'; I would agree with Wayne that it was 'un-American' in the sense that it didn't represent the typical western town and the values that prevailed in an essentially lawless era, and I generally hate Wayne's ridiculously bad movies. People stuck together much more than they would in a typical 'settled' eastern city. It was a matter of necessity; small tax base, one sheriff for an entire county, which could be a huge area in western territories. Vigilante posses were the norm, and despite all the bad press they get in modern times were very effective and few they hung were innocent victims.

A much more accurate movie scene of the American West would be from the movie Dillinger actually, when the character played by Harry Dean Stanton runs out of gas in the little town and gets shot to death by the locals. Never look to Hollywood for an accurate historical portrayal of life in the West. One should also note that the majority of westerners in some periods and regions were not even native to the U.S., but were immigrants from South America, Australia, and Europe, especially during the gold rushes, so at least half of any citizens in any western supposed to have taken place after 1840 should have a foreign accent, and sound much more like Tommy than Gary Cooper, especially the violent outlaws.

I still like the movie, and Gary Cooper's portrayals in general, but I can do that without having to take the movie content itself as real history or any sort of link to reality.

An example of your theory would be the Jesse James bank robbery in Northfield MN. The townspeople caught wind of the robbery and shot up the James Gang as they came out of the bank.

 

[Gdjjr]

Some movies, no matter the genre, can offer a different perspective on events- High Noon didn't.
Most westerns don't especially during the era of High Noon- Roy Rogers and Gene Autry come to mind as do Hopalong Cassidy, Lash Larue, the Cisco Kid. Gunsmoke, Bonanza, etc.
It's funny that Larry McMurtry wrote Lonesome Dove with the thought of dispelling the myth of the romantic west and did exactly the opposite.

 

[whitehall]

"Do not forsake me oh my darlin". The late great comedian John Ritter's father Tex Ritter sang the theme song that became a #1 hit.

 

[Picaro]

Here lately I keep noticing how many old westerns Dennis Hopper was in as bit player. Weird, because I don't recall noticing him or heard of him until Easy Rider came out, and I'd seen all those movies sometimes several times apiece over the year.

In any case, I liked Glenn Ford and Henry Fonda better than Wayne, except for Wayne's role in Liberty Vallance and the movie where he's tracking down his sister or daughter who had been kidnapped by indians to kill her. I haven't seen it in a long time and can't remember the name of it, but he's done two or three with the same plot line, kidnapped kid, but that one was actually good.

Richard Widmark and James Stewart did one with the same theme, only they were representatives asked to negotiate a trade for the family of a girl who had been kidnapped; can't remember the name of it either but it was pretty good.

 

[Picaro]

High Noon didn't represent the reality of the 'Old West'; I would agree with Wayne that it was 'un-American' in the sense that it didn't represent the typical western town and the values that prevailed in an essentially lawless era, and I generally hate Wayne's ridiculously bad movies. People stuck together much more than they would in a typical 'settled' eastern city. It was a matter of necessity; small tax base, one sheriff for an entire county, which could be a huge area in western territories. Vigilante posses were the norm, and despite all the bad press they get in modern times were very effective and few they hung were innocent victims.

A much more accurate movie scene of the American West would be from the movie Dillinger actually, when the character played by Harry Dean Stanton runs out of gas in the little town and gets shot to death by the locals. Never look to Hollywood for an accurate historical portrayal of life in the West. One should also note that the majority of westerners in some periods and regions were not even native to the U.S., but were immigrants from South America, Australia, and Europe, especially during the gold rushes, so at least half of any citizens in any western supposed to have taken place after 1840 should have a foreign accent, and sound much more like Tommy than Gary Cooper, especially the violent outlaws.

I still like the movie, and Gary Cooper's portrayals in general, but I can do that without having to take the movie content itself as real history or any sort of link to reality.

An example of your theory would be the Jesse James bank robbery in Northfield MN. The townspeople caught wind of the robbery and shot up the James Gang as they came out of the bank.

It's just a fact of life in the West, not a theory, really, as is the fact than many places in the West had strict gun control laws and no Supreme Court ruling ever challenged them or forced them repealed, something that drives the 2nd Amendment fanatics nuts. As for 'vigilantes' my grandfather and his fellow American Legion members were on call during the oil boom around Ranger, Tx. and during the Depression for aid to the county sheriff during the crime waves in those days; few local law enforcement officers could handle a lot of crime and violence on their own, and in many cases they didn't wait for him to call; when they heard shooting and mayhem, they called each other and took care of it.

 

[rightwinger]

Here lately I keep noticing how many old westerns Dennis Hopper was in as bit player. Weird, because I don't recall noticing him or heard of him until Easy Rider came out, and I'd seen all those movies sometimes several times apiece over the year.

In any case, I liked Glenn Ford and Henry Fonda better than Wayne, except for Wayne's role in Liberty Vallance and the movie where he's tracking down his sister or daughter who had been kidnapped by indians to kill her. I haven't seen it in a long time and can't remember the name of it, but he's done two or three with the same plot line, kidnapped kid, but that one was actually good.

Richard Widmark and James Stewart did one with the same theme, only they were representatives asked to negotiate a trade for the family of a girl who had been kidnapped; can't remember the name of it either but it was pretty good.

The Searchers

 

[Flopper]

High Noon didn't represent the reality of the 'Old West'; I would agree with Wayne that it was 'un-American' in the sense that it didn't represent the typical western town and the values that prevailed in an essentially lawless era, and I generally hate Wayne's ridiculously bad movies. People stuck together much more than they would in a typical 'settled' eastern city. It was a matter of necessity; small tax base, one sheriff for an entire county, which could be a huge area in western territories. Vigilante posses were the norm, and despite all the bad press they get in modern times were very effective and few they hung were innocent victims.

A much more accurate movie scene of the American West would be from the movie Dillinger actually, when the character played by Harry Dean Stanton runs out of gas in the little town and gets shot to death by the locals. Never look to Hollywood for an accurate historical portrayal of life in the West. One should also note that the majority of westerners in some periods and regions were not even native to the U.S., but were immigrants from South America, Australia, and Europe, especially during the gold rushes, so at least half of any citizens in any western supposed to have taken place after 1840 should have a foreign accent, and sound much more like Tommy than Gary Cooper, especially the violent outlaws.

I still like the movie, and Gary Cooper's portrayals in general, but I can do that without having to take the movie content itself as real history or any sort of link to reality.

It's pretty rare to see a movie about the "Old West" that comes anything close to reality. Gun fights on the streets as depicted in movies were rare. No lawman in his right mind walked down the middle of a street to face off against a fast gun. Wyatt Earp when asked what is the best way to shoot a man. He replied, "In the back of course."

John Wayne's depiction of the Old West was pure fiction. It was as phony as the "Code of the West" which was created on the silver screen. The real drama that most people faced on the frontier was the fight against the weather, disease, poverty, and ever present loneliness. This was not exciting enough for the Dime novelist and early movie makers so they created a fantasy version of the West.

 

[Flash]

My favorite classic westerns are The Man That Shot Liberty Valance and Red River. The Searchers was also great.

High Noon is OK but nothing special. Too dramatic.

 

[Flopper]

Here lately I keep noticing how many old westerns Dennis Hopper was in as bit player. Weird, because I don't recall noticing him or heard of him until Easy Rider came out, and I'd seen all those movies sometimes several times apiece over the year.

In any case, I liked Glenn Ford and Henry Fonda better than Wayne, except for Wayne's role in Liberty Vallance and the movie where he's tracking down his sister or daughter who had been kidnapped by indians to kill her. I haven't seen it in a long time and can't remember the name of it, but he's done two or three with the same plot line, kidnapped kid, but that one was actually good.

Richard Widmark and James Stewart did one with the same theme, only they were representatives asked to negotiate a trade for the family of a girl who had been kidnapped; can't remember the name of it either but it was pretty good.

One of Glenn Ford's best western's was the "The Sheepman", a western that combined humor and action to produce a really entertaining movie. Ford's best roles were playing ordinary men in unusual circumstances.

We don't hear much about Ford's personal life but it was a far cry from his screen roles. Believe it or not Glenn's real name was Gwyllyn. The actor, William Holden was his son. He served in WWII, the Korean War and Vietnam, yet he never saw combat. He made most of his movies in between commitments in the reserves.

Off screen he was a womanizer who had affairs with most of his leading ladies including Rita Hayworth, Maria Schell, Geradine Brooks, Stella Stevenson, Gloria Grahame, Eva Gabor, Barbara Standwyck, Joan Crawford, and Marilyn Monroe. According to a biography, Glenn Ford: A Life, he had affairs with 146 actresses, all documented in his diaries. Ford also documented his many relationships by taping every phone conversation he ever had with all of his celebrity lovers and friends for 40 years. Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan are on these recordings as well as Rita Hayworth, Frank Sinatra, William Holden, John Wayne, Cary Grant, Ava Gardner, Gregory Peck, James Mason, Lucille Ball, James Stewart, Henry Fonda, Angie Dickinson, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Charlton Heston and Debbie Reynolds. Ford installed the recording system to listen in on his first wife, Eleanor Powell's conversations, fearing that she would find out about his serial cheating and leave him.
Glenn Ford - Wikipedia

 

[Tommy Tainant]

High Noon didn't represent the reality of the 'Old West'; I would agree with Wayne that it was 'un-American' in the sense that it didn't represent the typical western town and the values that prevailed in an essentially lawless era, and I generally hate Wayne's ridiculously bad movies. People stuck together much more than they would in a typical 'settled' eastern city. It was a matter of necessity; small tax base, one sheriff for an entire county, which could be a huge area in western territories. Vigilante posses were the norm, and despite all the bad press they get in modern times were very effective and few they hung were innocent victims.

A much more accurate movie scene of the American West would be from the movie Dillinger actually, when the character played by Harry Dean Stanton runs out of gas in the little town and gets shot to death by the locals. Never look to Hollywood for an accurate historical portrayal of life in the West. One should also note that the majority of westerners in some periods and regions were not even native to the U.S., but were immigrants from South America, Australia, and Europe, especially during the gold rushes, so at least half of any citizens in any western supposed to have taken place after 1840 should have a foreign accent, and sound much more like Tommy than Gary Cooper, especially the violent outlaws.

I still like the movie, and Gary Cooper's portrayals in general, but I can do that without having to take the movie content itself as real history or any sort of link to reality.

It's pretty rare to see a movie about the "Old West" that comes anything close to reality. Gun fights on the streets as depicted in movies were rare. No lawman in his right mind walked down the middle of a street to face off against a fast gun. Wyatt Earp when asked what is the best way to shoot a man. He replied, "In the back of course."

John Wayne's depiction of the Old West was pure fiction. It was as phony as the "Code of the West" which was created on the silver screen. The real drama that most people faced on the frontier was the fight against the weather, disease, poverty, and ever present loneliness. This was not exciting enough for the Dime novelist and early movie makers so they created a fantasy version of the West.

Reality is overvalued. Unforgiven would have been a better movie if it hadnt been so downbeat. Every era puts its own stamp on the story through clothing, hairstyles, and language.
For me the west is a place to escape and live the dream. I would have joined Wayne on his quest in the Searchers and stood by Will Kaine in High Noon, would have followed Shane to the crack of doom. Would have liked working at the High Chaparral or Shiloh as well.

Bringing in the herd, fixing fences on the south pasture, into town on Saturday night. Beef and beans and coffee always on the go. What a life - in theory.

My generation was brought up on these films. The next generation was brought up on Star Wars which was basically westerns in space. Dont know what those kids dream of.

 

[Picaro]

High Noon didn't represent the reality of the 'Old West'; I would agree with Wayne that it was 'un-American' in the sense that it didn't represent the typical western town and the values that prevailed in an essentially lawless era, and I generally hate Wayne's ridiculously bad movies. People stuck together much more than they would in a typical 'settled' eastern city. It was a matter of necessity; small tax base, one sheriff for an entire county, which could be a huge area in western territories. Vigilante posses were the norm, and despite all the bad press they get in modern times were very effective and few they hung were innocent victims.

A much more accurate movie scene of the American West would be from the movie Dillinger actually, when the character played by Harry Dean Stanton runs out of gas in the little town and gets shot to death by the locals. Never look to Hollywood for an accurate historical portrayal of life in the West. One should also note that the majority of westerners in some periods and regions were not even native to the U.S., but were immigrants from South America, Australia, and Europe, especially during the gold rushes, so at least half of any citizens in any western supposed to have taken place after 1840 should have a foreign accent, and sound much more like Tommy than Gary Cooper, especially the violent outlaws.

I still like the movie, and Gary Cooper's portrayals in general, but I can do that without having to take the movie content itself as real history or any sort of link to reality.

It's pretty rare to see a movie about the "Old West" that comes anything close to reality. Gun fights on the streets as depicted in movies were rare. No lawman in his right mind walked down the middle of a street to face off against a fast gun. Wyatt Earp when asked what is the best way to shoot a man. He replied, "In the back of course."

John Wayne's depiction of the Old West was pure fiction. It was as phony as the "Code of the West" which was created on the silver screen. The real drama that most people faced on the frontier was the fight against the weather, disease, poverty, and ever present loneliness. This was not exciting enough for the Dime novelist and early movie makers so they created a fantasy version of the West.

Even the much mythologized 'Mountain Men' were essentially company employees of the big fur trading companies, like John Jacob Astor, who was quite an adventurer himself in his early years before he became the world's biggest slumlord in Manhattan. They had schedules to meet and loans to pay off, and quality standards for their 'products' they had to practice. Settling the West was all about business enterprises and opportunity unavailable back East at any price. Lots of scams, too, with the railroads heading the list of scammers, dumping people out on the raw Prairies and leaving them to die, after selling them land they couldn't farm or develop.

 

[Picaro]

It's pretty rare to see a movie about the "Old West" that comes anything close to reality. Gun fights on the streets as depicted in movies were rare. No lawman in his right mind walked down the middle of a street to face off against a fast gun. Wyatt Earp when asked what is the best way to shoot a man. He replied, "In the back of course."

.

lol something like that was made into a scene on the old TV western Maverick; he was being followed around by some young easterner who had read about him and thought him a hero, and when Maverick got called out by some outlaw in a saloon, he told the kid to hide by the door and watch in case the outlaw came back in the saloon while he was going to sneak around behind him and see if he could get a shot at him from behind. The kid was shocked, of course, and of course after learning how it was really done became disillusioned with his hero. It was a good episode, and a good series considering it was TV.

 

[there4eyeM]

High Noon didn't represent the reality of the 'Old West'; I would agree with Wayne that it was 'un-American' in the sense that it didn't represent the typical western town and the values that prevailed in an essentially lawless era, and I generally hate Wayne's ridiculously bad movies. People stuck together much more than they would in a typical 'settled' eastern city. It was a matter of necessity; small tax base, one sheriff for an entire county, which could be a huge area in western territories. Vigilante posses were the norm, and despite all the bad press they get in modern times were very effective and few they hung were innocent victims.

A much more accurate movie scene of the American West would be from the movie Dillinger actually, when the character played by Harry Dean Stanton runs out of gas in the little town and gets shot to death by the locals. Never look to Hollywood for an accurate historical portrayal of life in the West. One should also note that the majority of westerners in some periods and regions were not even native to the U.S., but were immigrants from South America, Australia, and Europe, especially during the gold rushes, so at least half of any citizens in any western supposed to have taken place after 1840 should have a foreign accent, and sound much more like Tommy than Gary Cooper, especially the violent outlaws.

I still like the movie, and Gary Cooper's portrayals in general, but I can do that without having to take the movie content itself as real history or any sort of link to reality.

It's pretty rare to see a movie about the "Old West" that comes anything close to reality. Gun fights on the streets as depicted in movies were rare. No lawman in his right mind walked down the middle of a street to face off against a fast gun. Wyatt Earp when asked what is the best way to shoot a man. He replied, "In the back of course."

John Wayne's depiction of the Old West was pure fiction. It was as phony as the "Code of the West" which was created on the silver screen. The real drama that most people faced on the frontier was the fight against the weather, disease, poverty, and ever present loneliness. This was not exciting enough for the Dime novelist and early movie makers so they created a fantasy version of the West.

Reality is overvalued. Unforgiven would have been a better movie if it hadnt been so downbeat. Every era puts its own stamp on the story through clothing, hairstyles, and language.
For me the west is a place to escape and live the dream. I would have joined Wayne on his quest in the Searchers and stood by Will Kaine in High Noon, would have followed Shane to the crack of doom. Would have liked working at the High Chaparral or Shiloh as well.

Bringing in the herd, fixing fences on the south pasture, into town on Saturday night. Beef and beans and coffee always on the go. What a life - in theory.

My generation was brought up on these films. The next generation was brought up on Star Wars which was basically westerns in space. Dont know what those kids dream of.

They dream of having their phone implanted so they don't have to carry it or ever drop it.

 

[rightwinger]

High Noon didn't represent the reality of the 'Old West'; I would agree with Wayne that it was 'un-American' in the sense that it didn't represent the typical western town and the values that prevailed in an essentially lawless era, and I generally hate Wayne's ridiculously bad movies. People stuck together much more than they would in a typical 'settled' eastern city. It was a matter of necessity; small tax base, one sheriff for an entire county, which could be a huge area in western territories. Vigilante posses were the norm, and despite all the bad press they get in modern times were very effective and few they hung were innocent victims.

A much more accurate movie scene of the American West would be from the movie Dillinger actually, when the character played by Harry Dean Stanton runs out of gas in the little town and gets shot to death by the locals. Never look to Hollywood for an accurate historical portrayal of life in the West. One should also note that the majority of westerners in some periods and regions were not even native to the U.S., but were immigrants from South America, Australia, and Europe, especially during the gold rushes, so at least half of any citizens in any western supposed to have taken place after 1840 should have a foreign accent, and sound much more like Tommy than Gary Cooper, especially the violent outlaws.

I still like the movie, and Gary Cooper's portrayals in general, but I can do that without having to take the movie content itself as real history or any sort of link to reality.

It's pretty rare to see a movie about the "Old West" that comes anything close to reality. Gun fights on the streets as depicted in movies were rare. No lawman in his right mind walked down the middle of a street to face off against a fast gun. Wyatt Earp when asked what is the best way to shoot a man. He replied, "In the back of course."

John Wayne's depiction of the Old West was pure fiction. It was as phony as the "Code of the West" which was created on the silver screen. The real drama that most people faced on the frontier was the fight against the weather, disease, poverty, and ever present loneliness. This was not exciting enough for the Dime novelist and early movie makers so they created a fantasy version of the West.

Reality is overvalued. Unforgiven would have been a better movie if it hadnt been so downbeat. Every era puts its own stamp on the story through clothing, hairstyles, and language.
For me the west is a place to escape and live the dream. I would have joined Wayne on his quest in the Searchers and stood by Will Kaine in High Noon, would have followed Shane to the crack of doom. Would have liked working at the High Chaparral or Shiloh as well.

Bringing in the herd, fixing fences on the south pasture, into town on Saturday night. Beef and beans and coffee always on the go. What a life - in theory.

My generation was brought up on these films. The next generation was brought up on Star Wars which was basically westerns in space. Dont know what those kids dream of.

What?
No Blazing Saddles?

 

[there4eyeM]

It's pretty rare to see a movie about the "Old West" that comes anything close to reality. Gun fights on the streets as depicted in movies were rare. No lawman in his right mind walked down the middle of a street to face off against a fast gun. Wyatt Earp when asked what is the best way to shoot a man. He replied, "In the back of course."

.

lol something like that was made into a scene on the old TV western Maverick; he was being followed around by some young easterner who had read about him and thought him a hero, and when Maverick got called out by some outlaw in a saloon, he told the kid to hide by the door and watch in case the outlaw came back in the saloon while he was going to sneak around behind him and see if he could get a shot him from behind. The kid was shocked, of course, and of course after learning how it was really done became disillusioned with his hero. It was a good episode, and a good series considering it was TV.

"Unforgiven" is a great movie. Eastwood was a genius, playing on the history of his past characters in the mind of the audience. So many elements were masterfully woven; fake news (the biographer), gun control, vindictive women, sadistic (toxic) men, the difficulty of shedding one's past and deep nature, the power of friendship...
Truly great.

 

[Picaro]

It's pretty rare to see a movie about the "Old West" that comes anything close to reality. Gun fights on the streets as depicted in movies were rare. No lawman in his right mind walked down the middle of a street to face off against a fast gun. Wyatt Earp when asked what is the best way to shoot a man. He replied, "In the back of course."

.

lol something like that was made into a scene on the old TV western Maverick; he was being followed around by some young easterner who had read about him and thought him a hero, and when Maverick got called out by some outlaw in a saloon, he told the kid to hide by the door and watch in case the outlaw came back in the saloon while he was going to sneak around behind him and see if he could get a shot him from behind. The kid was shocked, of course, and of course after learning how it was really done became disillusioned with his hero. It was a good episode, and a good series considering it was TV.

"Unforgiven" is a great movie. Eastwood was a genius, playing on the history of his past characters in the mind of the audience. So many elements were masterfully woven; fake news (the biographer), gun control, vindictive women, sadistic (toxic) men, the difficulty of shedding one's past and deep nature, the power of friendship...
Truly great.

That was the one of the last movies I saw on a big screen, that and Bram Stoker's Dracula. It was indeed a good movie.

 

[there4eyeM]

It's pretty rare to see a movie about the "Old West" that comes anything close to reality. Gun fights on the streets as depicted in movies were rare. No lawman in his right mind walked down the middle of a street to face off against a fast gun. Wyatt Earp when asked what is the best way to shoot a man. He replied, "In the back of course."

.

lol something like that was made into a scene on the old TV western Maverick; he was being followed around by some young easterner who had read about him and thought him a hero, and when Maverick got called out by some outlaw in a saloon, he told the kid to hide by the door and watch in case the outlaw came back in the saloon while he was going to sneak around behind him and see if he could get a shot him from behind. The kid was shocked, of course, and of course after learning how it was really done became disillusioned with his hero. It was a good episode, and a good series considering it was TV.

"Unforgiven" is a great movie. Eastwood was a genius, playing on the history of his past characters in the mind of the audience. So many elements were masterfully woven; fake news (the biographer), gun control, vindictive women, sadistic (toxic) men, the difficulty of shedding one's past and deep nature, the power of friendship...
Truly great.

That was the one of the last movies I saw on a big screen, that and Bram Stoker's Dracula. It was indeed a good movie.

Oldman was incredible (as he often is).